Black Horse Westerns - September 2009

Dead Man's Range
by Paul Durst
The murder trail was eight years old when Jeff Carmody got out of Huntsville Prison and the only clue he had was the rowel of a broken spur he had found that night beside Clint Merriweather's body. Booth Anson's rambling Anvil range hemmed the tiny Merriweather ranch on all sides, but Clint's widow, Anne, hung stubbornly on. Anson had killed to build his empire - his was a dead man's range. But a woman stood in his way now - would he baulk at killing a woman? That was when Carmody picked up his gun.


Silver Express
by Gillian F. Taylor
No one needed to tell Sheriff Alec Lawson that thousands of dollars in silver bullion had been stolen from a train on the Northern Colorado Railroad: he was on the train at the time. Now he and his deputies had to search the mountains and mining camps for the thieves. The more he looked into the robbery, the more Lawson was convinced that it was not just a simple theft. The desire for money was at the root of it all: bribes, bounties, social status and death. The Sheriff and his men were risking their lives for other people's money, and death seems very close when you're riding on the roof of a runaway train.


Beyond the Crimson Skies
by Owen G. Irons
Kendo was looking for salvation as well as retribution. Of these two retribution was the simpler to exact. Losing Frank Pierce's horse herd to raiding gunmen had not been his fault, but it was bound to ruin Kendo's reputation which had already been severely darkened by past failure. Left alone and afoot on the open plains by treacherous companions, he needed to track down the outlaws and recapture the horses, the sale of which Pierce was banking on to save his small ranch. That alone was a vast challenge and Kendo couldn't know how much worse it could get before he encountered the beautiful woman who was intent on building an outlaw empire in the far country.


Shoot-out at San Lorenzo
by Henry Remington
Blue gunsmoke roils as a vicious gang of killers puts the homes of Arizona settlers to the flames. Who is behind the terror attacks? Security man James Slaughter suspects the mayor of San Lorenzo, Joe Hagerty, may be the mastermind for he is buying up the settlers' dispossessed land cheap and fast. Does the mayor's haughtily beautiful wife, Jane, know more than she reveals? And who is the mysterious Mr Black who arrives at their casino in a private stagecoach in the middle of the night? Now the trouble comes thick and fast as Slaughter searches for the gang's hideout and their psychopathic leader. Lightning strikes and guns thunder.


Misfit Lil Robs the Bank
by Chap O'Keefe
Misfit Lil's misalliance with the reckless Texan cowboy Lucky M'Cline began while her true friend, mature frontiersman Jackson Farraday, was away in the Henry Mountains. Lil's crackshot skills saved M'Cline from the claws of a wounded, man-hating cougar but her actions earned her the enmity of M'Cline's former sweetheart, Virginia Whitpath. An unladylike fighting showdown with Virginia on Main Street, plus shooting pranks in a saloon with M'Cline, put Lil at the mercy of another arrival. Mesmerist. Dr Francois Guiscard, late of a Paris hospital infamous for the experimental treatment of madwomen, was entrusted with curing Lil of her behaviour problems. Lil had wanted only fun. Could she regain her freedom when Dr Guiscard had devilish plans to capitalize on her unique abilities?


The Raiders
by Greg Mitchell
A raid on a money shipment in the town of Appsley leaves a sheriff and a guard dead and another man wounded. Lawman Pete Hewitt is sent to keep order until the town council elects another sheriff. A chance discovery convinces Hewitt that someone in town could also be involved in the raid and a storekeeper's murder confirms his suspicions though most believe the events to be unrelated. Problems escalate when Hewitt antagonises a gunman called The Count and when it looks as if he can unmask the villains his life is in great danger. Can he survive long enough to run the law-breakers to ground?


Death Comes Riding
by Terrell L. Bowers
Lucas usually avoided contact with the Indians, but fate sometimes stepped in. When a simple job turns out to be a death ride, his relationship with one Indian in particular changes his life forever. In the midst of an impending war between the assembled tribes of the Black Hills and the army, Lucas partners Daniel Brooks, a half-Cheyenne who doesn't really belong on either side of the war. Daniel helps Lucas seek out the men who robbed and shot him, and then left him for dead. Then there is Iris Ducane, the girl who captured Lucas' heart, already being courted by Captain Bagot, a suave Creole Frenchman from the nearby fort, who wants her for himself...and he is willing to kill Lucas to win her hand.

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